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10.23.2004

Slashdotlinked up to this exciting experiment.
"Scientists at the University of Florida made a living 'brain' by extracting 25,000 neurons from a rat's brain and culturing them inside a glass dish. Then, the neurons began to extend lines to each other, creating a living neural network between them. The dish had a grid of 60 electrodes connected to a computer running a flight simulator. The scientists were able to train the 'brain' to control the plane in the simulator and to react to conditions of the plane. Are we getting closer to create an artificially made conscious being, or perhaps, a living computer?"
This is exactly the sort of field I want to start working in.

10.21.2004

Apparently there's an MP3 player out that can have a 100 GB hard drive, the DMC Store - DMC 500. Unfortunately, it's a little large since it's a laptop hard drive. Not only that, based on my experience with laptop hard drives, I doubt it can take much abuse.